The Minority in Parliament has urged government to prioritise settling its outstanding GH¢30.55 billion debt to cocoa farmers rather than focusing on ambitious targets for local cocoa processing.
Former Minister for Finance, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, made the demand while addressing the parliamentary press corps shortly after Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson presented the 2027 Budget Statement and Economic Policy on the floor of the House.
In the budget presentation, government outlined plans to process 50 percent of Ghana’s cocoa beans locally by 2028, ahead of a total ban on raw cocoa exports by 2030.
Reacting to the proposal, Dr. Amin Adam welcomed the policy direction in principle, describing it as a great policy. However, he raised concerns over the lack of capacity to execute the plan, pointing out that the infrastructure is not there, and the facilities are not there.
According to the former Finance Minister, cocoa farmers are far more concerned about recovering payments for beans already supplied to the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) than long-term industrial projections. He cited paragraph 1147 of the 2027 budget document, which confirms that COCOBOD still owes GH¢30.55 billion.
Dr. Amin Adam stressed that the cocoa farmer is telling government that even before it starts helping to process cocoa locally, it should pay the GH¢30 billion that COCOBOD owes them.
He explained that growers are demanding payment for beans already delivered before government can even talk about processing, warning that farmers cannot wait because by the time the processing facilities are built, they will all be gone, because they will have no money to live on.
Beyond the unpaid arrears, the Minority spokesperson criticised the recent mid-season reduction in the cocoa producer price by nearly 29 percent, noting that farmers are calling on government to pay them fair prices.
He argued that any local processing agenda depends entirely on the survival and motivation of the farmers who produce the raw materials, questioning how government expects its local processing target to be achieved if farmers will be feeding those facilities at such small producer prices.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana